Staircase, Montmartre,1924
Albumen print
21.8 x 17.8 cm (8-9/16 x 7 in.)
90.XM.124.1

In 1924, Atget created a study of a group of apartments seen from one of the stairways of Montmartre. (It was, coincidentally, the same year that Berenice Abbott [pl. 170,173,183] first saw one of his photographs and became the most devoted apostle of his art.) Trees were a favorite Atget subject, and this elegant and well- proportioned specimen stands in definite contrast to another favorite subject, architecture. In this block we see neither noble materials nor heroic design, but rather journeyman production that attempts to reconcile utility and beauty. The eye is teased by the elegance of the leafless tree that dominates the picture; it is intrigued by the askew chimney pipes and by an agglomeration of textures rang- ing from mildew to decaying wood and from decomposing plaster to scarred stone. The tree by comparison seems ageless, Iike the sculpture at its base.
(EUGENE ATGET related to-->> 170, Japanese)

related: web site -->>
• The Atget Rephotographic Project
• Masters of Photography